Just finished The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer. I'm trying to figure out why- other than $- she wrote this short story. I have yet to come up with an answer. I read the book on my Barnes & Noble Nook- it's only 90-some pages long, so it didn't take long. Bree was such a non-character in Eclipse that I have a really hard time remembering her and will continue to have a hard time since the short story was not very enlightening, nor was it very well written or memorable. Although I enjoyed the Twilight saga, I don't think it was very well written, either- maybe Stephenie was just practicing some more. don't get me worng, though, I LOVE the fact that authors are writing things people want to read- that' SO important!

I also recently read the first Warrior book from Erin Hunter- Into the Wild, for a book discussion. It was OK- not my cup-of-tea, as they say. The next discussion book is Blood & Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klauss, which will be a re-read for me- I had to read it for my YA Lit class in library school several years ago. I remember liking it, althought that was in the days before vampires became so popular, and the literature, so over-saturated with them!

I am currently reading Need by Carrie Jones. From B&N's website (http://www.bn.com/ )- Zara collects phobias the way other girls collect Facebook friends. Little wonder, since life’s been pretty rough so far. The sequel, Captivate, is already out and it looks good, too!

I have also just downloaded Before I Die by Lauren Oliver to my Nook and will be reading it on vacation next week!

Beautiful, popular Samantha and her three best friends are the ruthless queen bees of their high school. But Samantha is living a nightmare: throughout the book, she relives the day of her death seven times, with some dramatic alterations and revelations depending on her choices- http://www.bn.com/ . There's a cool video intro @ http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Before-I-Fall/Lauren-Oliver/e/9780061726804/?cds2Pid=32024&inframe=y.

You can also checkout this great trailer for Beastly- originally the book Beastly by Alex Flinn- coming this July: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGGOfKS-ZKk

I recently read Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern, which I enjoyed. When Jessie's two best friends turn punk on her, she is forced to discover her nerd-ness and learn to be OK with it- after all, isn't NERD just another label, not good or bad, just an identifyer? Jessie's relationship with her older brother seems a little unrealistic- how many older brothers look up to and are nice to their little sisters? Maybe more than I realize since I was the older sister to a younger brother!

I am currently reading The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I had heard all kinds of good recommendations for this title, but am finding it a little hard to get into- a whole new world, with new language and memory loss which has me scrambling to figure out what's going on. The big plus is that The Maze Runner is the first book I am reading on the Barnes & Noble ereader called The NOOK! http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/index.asp In addition to the strangeness of the story, I am experiencing the strangeness of reading a book in digital format on a device that doesn't feel like a book in my hands. I'm still not totally sold on ereaders and ebooks, but it IS kind of cool! The library invested in a Nook, a Kindle (Amazon's ereader) and Sony's Touch Reader so we could familiarize ourselves with this new and currently popular format. If you want to see what it's all about we're offering a ereader roundtable this Thursday at 5:30 pm at the Pitkin County Library- come check it out!

I am currently reading Alice I have Been by Melanie Benjamin in honor of the new Alice in Wonderland movie, which I very much enjoyed. The book is a new fictionalized biography of Alice Liddell. Alice Liddell was the inspiration for the Alice of Wonderland, and the story tells of her relationship with Mr. Charles Dodgson, an Oxford Professor, aka. Lewis Carroll. Although the book is fiction, the author's note states that much of it is fact which makes it a little creepy as Charles Dodgson had an un-natural attachment to Alice and other young children.
I just finished reading By the Time You Read This I'll be Dead by Julie Anne Peters which was good, but now that i'm done I feel like I need a feel-good book. This story of a young girl who having been bullied all her young life for being fat, decides that taking her own life is the only way to stop the pain, is heartbreaking. However, her new friendship with Santana, a young boy battling cancer MAY alter her decision- the hardest part is that we'll never know. So, if you chose to believe, you can assume the positive and it becomes an uplifting story.
Presently on my bedside table- Neil Shusterman's Everwild and Incarceron by Catherine Fisher.

I am currently reading and enjoying Wings by Aprilynne Pike. Laurel is new to her school and trying to fit in when she develops what looks like petals, on her back- turns out she's a faerie. Suddenly the adjustments Laurel needs to make are not so simple.

I also have The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks on my bedside table and am reading Diana Gabaldon's newest from the Outlander series- An Echo in the Bone on my iPod. I also just finished The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova- I like The Historian much better! I read The Swan Thieves at night in print-form and I was traveling, so I also had the playaway with me and listened while on airplanes- all I had to do was keep track of what chapter I was on.

I was reading an article about connecting teens with books and I found two great sites I want to share with you:
Guys Lit Wire is a blog where teen boys can discover books- http://www.guyslitwire.blogspot.com/
AND
Readergirlz is a site (which includes a blog, too) where young adults can read book reviews, connect with authors and much more http://readergirlz.blogspot.com/

The Michael L Printz award winners for 2010- announced this week!

WINNER: Going Bovine by Libba Bray

HONORS: Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
Punkzilla by Adam Rapp
Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973 by John Barnes

Currently reading Wings by Aprilynne Pike.

STEAMPUNK- ever heard of it? It seems that it's been around since the 80s- it is a newly popular, genre of fiction related to fantasy & science fiction. Steampunk stories are set in the Victorian era or times when steam power was widely used, and contain elements of fictional technology inventions- biological as well as mechanical- as is the case in Leviathan. Leviathan is Scott Westerfeld's newest, and a totally new direction from Uglies. It has historical elements as it takes place at the start of WWI. The central character, Alek, is the son of Franz Ferdinand whose murder in Sarajevo in 1914 set off the war. The story pits the 'Darwinists' against the 'Clankers' in the epic battle of good vs evil. It's REALLY GOOD and I highly recommend it. I have put together a Steampunk display at the library to give some other reading suggestions- Steampunk authors include Jules Verne, Ken Oppel, Eon Colfer, Jeanne DuPrau, Phillip Pullman and Philip Reeve.